Court orders state to stay out of eyebrow threading

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

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A customer has her eyebrows threaded at Perfect Browz inside the H-E-B on Blackhawk Boulevard.

A customer has her eyebrows threaded at Perfect Browz inside the H-E-B on Blackhawk Boulevard.

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

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A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Image 4 of 8

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Image 5 of 8

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Image 6 of 8

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Image 7 of 8

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Image 8 of 8

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

A customer has her eye brows threaded by Manisha Gelal at Perfect Browz Tuesday July 14, 2015. Perfect Browz is a business located inside HEB on Blackhawk Blvd. in Houston, Texas. (Billy Smith II / Houston ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II, Staff

Court orders state to stay out of eyebrow threading

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Yasin Dobaria's business was just getting off the ground when he learned of a licensing requirement that was raising eyebrows among those in his industry. The state required 750 hours of instruction in cosmetology and two exams before someone could legally practice eyebrow threading, a traditional South Asian method of using cotton thread to remove the tiny hairs.

The eyebrow-shaping practice was already becoming more popular in the U.S. when Dobaria opened a place called Perfect Browz in 2009 inside an H-E-B in south Houston. The shop does eyebrow threading exclusively, and Dobaria had plans for expansion - before the licensing requirements put his ambitions on hold.

He said most of the state-required training doesn't involve the skills needed for eyebrow threading. And it was difficult to hire licensed cosmetologists because they wanted to use their other skills, such as facials. His wife, who has her license, was the only employee for about four years before the couple hired another licensed employee.

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A ruling last month by the Texas Supreme Court could put the "Help Wanted" sign back in Perfect Browz's window.

"We expect to hire more people who just have the skill to do eyebrow threading," Dobaria said.

The high court ruled in late June that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation violated the state constitution when it ordered eyebrow threaders to obtain these 750 hours of conventional cosmetology training.

The lawsuit began in 2009 when eyebrow threaders, including the owners of Perfect Browz in Austin, sued the state Licensing Department. They lost in the trial court and appeals court, but they won in the high court.

According to the Texas Supreme Court's decision, the eyebrow threaders argued that most of the training was not related to health and safety or to what threaders actually do. The state conceded that more than 40 percent of the hours were unrelated, although it argued that the licensing requirements were still constitutional.

The state Licensing Department declined to comment on the Supreme Court ruling. Susan Stanford, a public information officer, said the license was required because eyebrow threaders fell under the cosmetology definition of hair removal, as defined by state statute.

With the Supreme Court ruling, Dobaria is again looking forward to expanding his business - and to giving his wife, Zara, some well-deserved time off.

The ruling could have wider implications, too. Justice Don Willett, in a concurring opinion joined by justices Debra Lehrmann and John Devine, said the case is about more than the ability to pluck unwanted hair with a thread.

"This case is fundamentally about the American Dream and the unalienable human right to pursue happiness without curtsying to government on bended knee," he wrote.

Arif Panju, one of the Institute for Justice attorneys who represented the eyebrow threaders, said the case sets a precedent for courts to make sure that occupational regulations aren't too burdensome and don't interfere with a person's right to earn an honest living free from unreasonable government interference.

"It's a landmark victory," he said. "It's historic for many reasons."

He said it will ideally make Texas and other states take a hard look at their occupational licensing. In Texas, 33 percent of the 102 low- and moderate-income occupations examined required licenses. This can act as a major barrier for people to pursue these careers, a 2012 Institute for Justice report determined.

Asked if the industry should be regulated for health or safety concerns, Panju said customers will ultimately regulate the business by deciding if the practitioner is good enough to earn their business again.

Only occupations with a real or substantial public or health safety risk, like doctors, should be considered for licenses, he said. There are less restrictive ways, such as inspections or voluntary certifications, to regulate other industries.

He cited hair braiding as another example of a skill that shouldn't require a license. And in June, Texas removed that from its cosmetology license requirements.

"When one in three Texans have to get a government permission slip to go to work in the morning, occupational licensing has gone too far," Panju said.